Since then, Hill has published three more novels, a book of essays, and a second short story collection, with a third, entitled Full Throttle, due out in October 2019. By then, Hill’s secret identity was out in the open, and the novel nabbed Bram Stoker and International Thriller Writers Awards for Best First Novel. In 2007, Hill followed up with his first novel, Heart-Shaped Box, a tale about a fading rock star who acquires a dead man’s funeral suit-and inherits the vengeful ghost who once wore it. It secured him a Bradbury Fellowship as well as the Bram Stoker, British Fantasy, and International Horror Guild Awards for Best Collection. Hill, who assumed a shortened version of his name as a pseudonym in order to succeed or fail on his own merits rather than those of his famous father, made his first big splash on the literary scene with the 2005 publication of his debut short fiction collection, 20th Century Ghosts. But you don’t get all those awards just by being your father’s son, and Hill has carved out an impressive reputation of his own in the literary world.

You could say that Hill comes by his talents naturally, and it’s certainly true that he’s followed in his father’s footsteps-just about all of his novels, short stories, and comic books land solidly in the horror genre.

Locke & Key by Joe Hill